A while back I made a thread asking which armies people thought were the least competitive.

The winners were: Rohan, The Shire, Rivendel (no votes but mentioned over and over in the thread) and in first place Numenor!

So part two is discussing how to make these factions as hard as possible while staying true to their theme (ie main focus on using just that faction but thematic allies should be discussed as well).

Tactics, hard as nails army lists ect should are all welcome for discussion, things may get a little confusing with four separate factions to talk about but am sure we can manage.

I will be using at least two of the above factions in tournaments this year so will try to follow up with reports on how they do.

First off, please remove rivendell from the list - the list was talked about alot because one or two people suggested it, and everyone else leapt to it's defence.

The only army of those I have any experience of the other 3 is Rohan so here is my two pence regarding pure Rohan armies:

There are essentially 3 ways cores to build your army around:
1. Chunky heroes and sons of eorl
2. Erkenbrand + westfold redshields with maxed out throwing spears
3. Grimbold, Erkenbrand, a banner, and a horde of helmingas with shield/royal guards.

There are plenty of videos about the first tactic on tactic one by the GBHL youtube channel - so go watch those. The second tactic requires you to be contempt spending as much time as humanly possible skirting around the enemies while shooting/throwing spears, otherwise you will have to commit to combat while being overwhelmed and likely outclassed.

The third option plays similarly to any other force in the game in that you just throw troops at the enemy - the obvious difference being you won't have any spear support, hence why I included the word 'banner' above - having a banner means if an enemy model with spear support charges one of your guys, if you choose to shield you will get 3 duel dice - this means you can have more helmingas elsewhere to gang up on enemy models. I think tactic 3 is most easily worked into other forces such as galadhrim/gondor.

I've only really played numenor, and that was at a low points level at legions playing style.
However, I will share what I know. They have some of the weaknesses and strengths of the high elf list - weak warriors and limited troop options but powerful heroes. However, the weaknesses are more apparent and the heroes limited to one fairly decent one - Elendil, who seems reasonably good for his points level, their captains are above average since they can take heavy armour (and crack 5 fight value, very good at low points level) and Isildur, who may be one of the most exceptional heroes in the game, thanks to changes to the ring. He ties with Thorin for cheapest good side three attack, three wound models (just ahead of fellowship Boromir), slightly more expensive than Suladan. The ring can be a bit dodgy, especially against fellbeasts and Necromancer/Taskmaster combos, (in the latter case by dodgy I mean instant KO). Never forget that it could go bad on you. But at the same time, it is like a personal bat swarm projector, and since he cracks just above the highest fight you can possibly have even when heroic striking when under bat influence, if he rolls a six, he wins. Plus he can do all sorts of ninja stuff, and if you don't feel lucky then he's still a three attack, three wound chap with good combat stats and a horse option. The numenorians should probably get a banner and go shieldwall, as many troops as possible and Isildur, and captains with shield and heavy armour. Elendil should be reserved for high points matches. The good thing is that they are cheap, so a large melee swarm is possible. They're never going to be really competitive, but I think they could be mildly competitive.

_________________
"Release the Kragle!"
They were waiting 45 minutes to make that pun.
Totally worth it.

Above, Isildur is good, I would argue that a Numenorian force should always include Isildur or Elendil for their Courage as well as their other bonus, Elendil is for bigger games, but Narsil means your opponent will struggle to control him.
With the warriors, knowing when to shield is important, but their Fight 4 is pretty nifty, beating a lot of armies out there, and can draw against anything bar elves. Make sure you have spears, I tend to go for 4 with sheild, 4 with shield and spear and four with bows in a warband. The captians can be tanks, though they can get away with just a shield due to their Fight 5, plus they are fun opportunities to use.
Am now tempted to take a pure numenorian list to the best ever just to see how it would do, though the list I'm planning on taking atm is pretty numenor heavy as it is.